[Peace Corps news] In case of a government shutdown...

The National Peace Corps Association has a helpful article explaining contigencies related to a shutdown of federal government operations and how it might affect the Peace Corps and volunteers in the field.

[Guinean news] Protesters injured by security forces

Jeune Afrique reports that dozens of protesters were injured when security forces fired on protesters. The supporters of losing presidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo had gathered at the Conakry airport to protest against President Alpha Condé's regime. The pan-African weekly quoted Guinea's chief human rights advocate saying that 27 people were hospitalized after the incident, 8 of whom were injured by bullets. He added that it was highly likely that there were others injured being treated at private clinics. There are no reports of deaths at this time.

[Guinean news] Protests in Kankan

Guineenews reports protests were held in Kankan demanding the departure of the region's administrative authorities. Protesters called for the resignation of the governor and the prefet, both military men, for being unable to resolve a shortage of gasoline that has hit Kankan in the last week. The mayor, for his part, was reproached for bad management of public resources. The marches were mostly peaceful, but reports indicate that some youths threw rocks and otherwise damaged property.


Update: Guineenews has just reported that President Alpha Conde has named 15 new prefets, including a new one for Kankan.

When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years

Stanley Meisler has recently published a history of the Peace Corps entitled When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years by Beacon Press of Boston. Meisler was an early deputy director of the Peace Corps and long-time foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. Meisler has also written books on the United Nations and its former secretary general Kofi Annan. For more information, visit the author's website: www.stanleymeisler.com/

Drugs trafficking and Guinea

This article from The New York Times about the much-publicized Wikileaks’ diplomatic cables reports the influence of narco-traffickers in Guinea during the regime of Lansana Conté. With neighboring Guinea-Bissau often referred to as Africa’s first narco state and with parts of Mali also used by the drugs traffickers, it’s unlikely that their influence has completely disappeared with the end of Conté’s reign.

{Guinean news] Conde names new PM

Guinea's newly-installed president Alpha Conde has named Mohamed Said Fofana as his government's new prime minister. Fofana was formerly director of economic research in the country's commerce ministry.

On a related note, a couple of good articles on Guinea's democratic transition include Guinea: Tyranny to Democracy (Liberia's The Analyst) and Guinea's Election An Example to All (VOA).

[Guinean news] Alpha Conde inauguration (video)

The Guinean state television broadcaster RTG's news program offered coverage of Alpha Conde's swearing in as Guinea's first democratically elected president (courtesy of Guineenews).

[Guinean news] Alpha Conde inaugurated while Ivorian refugees flee into Guinea

Former political prisoner Alpha Conde was sworn in today as Guinea's first democratically elected president. He took the oath of office at Conakry's Palais du peuple in front of numerous heads of state, including the presidents of South Africa and Liberia.

The country's outgoing military leader Gen. Sekouba Konate described the inauguration as an 'act of rebirth' for the country.

Agence France Presse noted that the ceremony included a minute's silence in memory of the 157 opposition supporters massacred by forces loyal to former junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara at a stadium in the capital in September 2009, a tragedy widely seen as the real beginning of Guinea's democratization process.

Guinea's election was accepted peacefully, if grudgingly, by the losing candidates. However, the same can not be said of neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, where an election controversy has provoked fears of another civil war in the country. Such tension has provoked over 200 Ivorian refugees so far to flee to Guinea, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

[Guinean news] Dadis to attend Conde investiture?

The Guineenews weekly press review discusses media speculation that deposed junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara may attend the swearing in of the new president Prof. Alpha Conde. Dadis has not been seen in public since being wounded in an assassination attempt in Dec. 2009.

Also, the Guinean government has lifted the state of emergency and re-opened the country's borders; both measures had been imposed to ease post-electoral violence.

[Guinean news] Condé declared winner by court; Diallo accepts defeat

RPG leader Alpha Condé has been officially declared winner of the Guinean presidential election by the country's Supreme Court.

Crucially, UFGD leader Cellou Dalein Diallo accepted the Court's decision, although he did contend that they didn't take his complaints into account.